 by Michael Jensen
Video Blogs
TV Shows:
Find Articles On:
Who's onlineThere are currently 20 members and 750 guests online.
|
ATWT's Luke and Noah heating things upThere has been a great deal of concern over how CBS would handle the GAY storyline between Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann) on As The World Turns. Would the network treat Luke and Noah's romance the same as for their straight counterparts? Or would they handle it with kid gloves like it was still the 1950's and you couldn't show a couple in bed unless one of them had a foot on the floor? After all, the network has moved cautiously with daytime TV's first male gay teen romance even going so far as to have Noah start a relationship with a woman first. Well, for those who doubted the network intended to go "there" with Luke and Noah, I think the photo below presents a pretty good indication this won't just be some chaste peck-on-the-cheek relationship.
No, they're not about to kiss (that comes a little later), but judging by this pretty steamy picture from this week's previews, something is clearly going on between our two boys — and it looks like great, soapy fun. It was great to have Luke's coming out storyline handled thus far in a non-sensationalistic way, but this is a soap opera and true equality for gays will be when the gay storylines are just as pulpy and sexy as the straight ones. In the clip (which is after the jump) Luke and Noah appear to be fighting over a towel which is how they end up above. I can't wait see what preposterousness led to the scenario! The second clip is from last week when Luke explains to Noah what he has been going through since coming out, how lonely he has been, and why he can't be friends with a straight guy about whom Luke has no doubt been fantasizing this very scenario! Submitted by on Sun, 2007-08-05 13:32. |
 Recent Comments
Recent blog posts
|
Welcome to AfterElton.com!
- Login
- Join Now!
News, Reviews & Commentary on Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media
Noah caught gay from Luke
Well, knowing what we know (that they end up together), that is the way they are making it seem so far. I'm watching the story at this point just to see it and watch Noah shirtless, but I'm not excited. They have done so little now in the area of character building around Noah questioning his sexuality that they are making it seem like he catches gay from Luke. Luke has had some great moments and script but I wish they'd give Noah more private thought moments.
Oh well! Off with that shirt boy!
While it's been subtle,
While it's been subtle, there have been signs in the show that Noah was gay before this.
Noah and subtle hints?
Noah and subtle hints?
Other than Noah's love of theater, I haven't seen anything [stereotypically] gay either.
Still there were two possible indirect and very subtle tipoffs. Noah told Maddie about this perfect male neighbor of his. The guy was a scholar and an athlete, etc, etc, etc. There seemed to be a crush or even a past relationship. I felt that way again when we met Noah childhood friend Gabe in Branson. They exchanged glances, especially when Gabe said that he thought Noah was never coming back. Regardless of whether they had a relationship, I got gay vibes from Gabe.
I thought that it was funny how the three possibly gay guys had Biblical names: Luke, Noah and Gabe.
Regardless, I agree that Noah still appears "straight" or sexually-generic. Heck, Henry has more gay traits! Actor Trent Dawson has even suggested making Henry gay but the producers rejected it (despite Henry's penchant for quoting from The Wizard of Oz among other things).
Oh...and Luke needs to relax.
Strange, I'm not seeing the clips...
...just a huge white spot on the screen.... Of course, I've seen this several times (watching it and rewatching it over the weekend, and the pic at the top is now my wallpaper! Yeah, I need to get a life). But I thought you should know.
GayTVluver, I agree that there hasn't been enough character development with Noah, but I'm hoping that as the relationship with Luke grows, we'll begin to see what makes Noah tick--my suspicion is that he's overcompensating, trying to hide his true sexual nature from his overbearing father (who may suspect or already know, which is part of the reason he wants Noah to join the Army).
And assuming/putting words into other characters' mouths is how soaps work--it's always a case of misunderstanding on these shows.
Joseph, only you can't see them. It's personal
I'm not paranoid...
...it's just that everybody's out to get me!
Thanks!
YouTube is back up
You're not paranoid... I AM out to get you!
> ...it's just that everybody's out to get me!
Sadly, not everyone is out. Some of us try to get you from behind closet doors. :)
As for targeting you, why yes. You see, I have two windows opened: One for YouTube and one for AfterElton. Then I just sit there and wait. Whenever I see your name on AfterElton, I purposely put my video offline. And then I wait again...
Dontcha feel special? :)
In case YouTube is down, I've uploaded the video and screen capture here in case anyone wants to download:
www.yousendit.com/download/ZUcyNU1GeWF5UkUwTVE9PQ
Odd, I can see them
YouTube must be back up now...
Might I add...
I agree
It's all "don't miss next week when shirtless boys fall into each others' arms".
Although, considering that half of Queer as Folk's audience was straight women, maybe we should be surprised that there aren't more gay characters on the soaps.
Oh crikey...that was wierd.
Oh crikey...that was wierd. How the hell did they get into a situation where they are fighting over a towel?! I think that it's going to be so cringeworthy watching the full scene by the looks of it.
But yeah, it was freaking hot all the same! ;) I think it's interesting that they have no qualms about showing two topless guys, when in a show like Hollyoaks in the UK they are not allowed to show two guys topless together. At least one of them has to wear a top!
But....
You're saying that they can't show two guys topless, but they can show them in making out passionately in bed as Hollyoaks has done several times? That's just... strange.
BTW, in terms of Luke and Noah, that scene there is pretty hot. From what I understand, it all comes about when Luke, Noah and Maddie go swimming together at Snyder Pond. Maddie gets called away and Luke and Noah get out of the water. Noah towels Luke off (which is what all our hot straight friends offer to do for us, don't they?). And things springboard from there.
Anthony
You're saying that they
You're saying that they can't show two guys topless, but they can show them in making out passionately in bed as Hollyoaks has done several times? That's just... strange.
http://www.afterelton.com/bgwe/07-06-07?page=0,3#comment-24090
Fun with towels
You gotta love towel play in the showers and at the beach. :) Also I think a guy is sexier wrapped up in a towel than a speedo. You never know what's under that wet towel. :) But yeah that scene was hot. I'm going to be a frequent guest on the ATWT page. :)
"Bye bye, yuckiness!"
"Bye bye, yuckiness!" = Maddie
> My favorite part of that clip hands-down is the three women singing
Yeah, I did that just for you. Your secret fetish for musical-female-seniors is now out.
Actually, I made that video for my friend Mikey, who detests Maddie. The yuckiness referred to her -- especially all that nauseating public displays of affection last week. I mean seriously, they were making out in the office when Luke walked in a rolled his eyes. Then they continued on that park bench. GET A ROOM ALREADY!
We targeted Maddie instead of Noah because the latter at least thinks of themselves as boyfriend/girlfriend. Maddie, on the other hand, is just sleeping around -- only hours after Casey refused to take her call at Branson, I might add. Heck, Margo and Tom even evicted her for sleeping with Casey.
So yeah, Maddie = Yuckiness. So bye-bye.
Unfortunately, some YOuTubers thought that the yuckiness referred to Luke and Noah. In fact, one guy accused me of uploading Aversion Therapy! He said it reminded him of the 70's technique where a gay guy was told to look at porn, and then shock himself for negative reinforcement. C'mon, those ladies weren't that bad, were they? C'mon, I should look so good when I hit 70. Actually, I look like that now.... :(
Regardless, that short 18 sec preview clip is my second most successful to date, given views/length ratio (4500 views so far). The king is still my Matt Sanchez/Rod Majors video with 3,200,000+ views, at a rate of 20,000 per day (12th Most Viewed All Time-News).
Well
Joseph I agree with you on most of that, I think the character development has been pretty good so far.
To GayTVluver, what I love so much about it all, Luke's tension and all, is that that's exactly how I feel and have felt. I'm 21, still opening up and tired of crushing on straight guys, not having a boyfriend or someone like all my friends do, etc. They've done a pretty good job, especially considering I didn't think much was going to happen. After he came out last year and he started to disappear I stopped watching (he was the only reason I started watching the show).
By the way, to the other Anthony, where are you finding your spoilers?
ACW '07
Luke and Noah spoilers
> By the way, to the other Anthony, where are you finding your spoilers?
I try to avoid spoilers so I can't vouch for this site but many of my subscribers get their spoilers on vanhansis.net or specifically, on this page:
http://z13.invisionfree.com/vanhansis/index.php?showforum=9
getting caught up
I am getting caught up with this story, though youtube, thanks for letting me know about it!
-S
getting caught up - options
> I am getting caught up with this story, though youtube
I don't know if non-US viewers can get through but CBS is showing complete episodes on their site (with full written synopses), up to three days back:
http://www.cbs.com/daytime/atwt/video/
As for YouTube, you can view/subscribe to my channel for the latest episodes and discussion:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sdc100
But if you want to watch Luke from the beginning (where Van Hansis took over the role from Jake Weary), watch this channel. The Netherlands just started showing those episodes in July so this guy is posting them as they air.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MarkDutchViewer
Van Hansis was a
Van Hansis was a replacement
"Van Hansis was a replacement? Grr, I really hate it when that happens. Though I shouldn't complain because otherwise we wouldn't have Hansis, and Jake Weary probably would have sucked. "
Yup. I'm no expert since I've only started watching when Luke came out, but I agree that the role belongs to Hansis. When he came onboard, they also aged the character by a few years (Weary looked 15 or so). According to rumors, Weary quit because his mom, a soap actress, didn't want her son playing gay. She denied it though, claiming that she merely wanted him to spend more time being a normal teenager.
Re: Van a replacement.
Van replaced Jake Weary, who's mother play
Reva on Guiding Light. Supposedly, she told him playing gay would be bad for his career!
Van, IMO, is a much better actor than Jake. And hotter!
Van Hansis vs Jake Weary
"Van, IMO, is a much better actor than Jake. And hotter!"
And a legal consenting adult...
Well.......
The role *had* to be recast. Jake Weary was much too young to play the 'Luke comes out' storyline and they needed an older actor. He was about 13 - 15 years old and while IRL you might know you're gay at that age, it would make viewers very uncomfortable.
Anthony
Jake Weary's mom...
...Kim Zimmer (Reva, Guiding Light) has insisted that Jake did not leave ATWT because Luke would be coming out, but because the work was interfering with his studies. Or so she sez.
Whatever. We really lucked out with Van Hansis--he's really been phenomenal in this role, and it's a shame that a) he didn't win the Emmy and b) he's seen seemingly only once a week.
It's really odd, that, considering Luke's storyline has brought in more new viewers to ATWT than any other aspect of the show--you'd think they'd take advantage of that, not try to drive the viewers away with lack of airtime.
You would think that ATWT would give more airtime
You would think that ATWT would give more airtime
"You're right Joseph. There are a lot of viewers that have been added because of this storyline...(me included)"
Likewise. I'm pretty sure that I'll tune out once Luke is off the show. Even now, I find myself fastforwarding some of the other storylines.
"I would think that they would increase the air time of this storyline. But then maybe it would advance more quickly and they wouldn't have all of us new viewers on the hook for weeks and months to come."
Bingo. The writers know that there isn't much competition for gay viewers on Daytime dramas. Hence, they're not all that worried about losing gay viewers once news leaked that there will be a kiss. If anything, they're probably feeding spoilers as bait for gay retention.
CBS is also probably more fearful of permanently losing conservative viewers than retaining Luke fans. They probably realize than many of us will leave anyway once Luke is gone. The "Luke demographic" is probably working young professionals who record ATWT or watch on the web. In other words, people who fastforward through commercials and have limited time for TV -- not exactly the best consumers. Their conservative viewers are probably much older and watch TV realtime (since they're not techno-saavy).
A recent CBS Soap survey showed that viewers don't want Luke and Noah as a couple. I can't remember the final results, but the anti folks had a slight majority much of the time. Whether the reason was homophobia or simply because hey thought it was a poor match is unclear. The fact that it means breaking Maddie's heart is also problematic. Regardless, it signals that many viewers don't care that much for storyline. As another indicator, when I first started doing this research, there were hardly any posts about Luke on the CBS forum even though he had just come out and battling Damian, his homophobic father. Instead, most posts dealt with Will, Gwen and Carly.
My point is that gay viewers are being taken for granted because they know they can get away with it.
A recent CBS Soap survey
A recent CBS Soap survey showed that viewers don't want Luke and Noah as a couple.
http://www.afterelton.com/node/7344
A recent CBS Soap survey
http://www.afterelton.com/node/7344
Is Noah the one for ATWT's Luke?
36% said no. Luke's just a kid. He has plenty of time to find a fabulous boyfriend.
40% said yes. Noah is sweet and intelligent... if you discount that he needs to get a clue!
23% said maybe. Kevin should come back to make Noah a little jealous first.
======
Thanks for the update. This result comes about a month after the CBS Soaps InDepth survey that I cited, which seemed to show the opposite result. I don't know the final numbers but observers tell me that the anti-Luke/Noah numbers were higher more often.
This current Soap Weekly survey is way too bias to be useful, however. Note that it's heavily homophile and none of the choices reflect the views of homophobes. The older CBS Soaps InDepth poll was less gay-biased, and one of the two choices included viewers who are simply against gay relationships. In this present poll, homophobes would choose "none of the above" or not vote at all.
Luke fans may not be loyal viewers...
"an Hansis--he's really been phenomenal in this role, and it's a shame that a) he didn't win the Emmy"
Yeah, especially since Luke's storyline and character probably won't get any more compelling than they were during his coming out phase. They allowed Hansis to really showcase his talents. It'll be interesting to see if the gay relationship storyline will offer as many opportunities, but I'd doubt it. CBS will probably minimize airtime so as to not alienate conservative viewers.
"considering Luke's storyline has brought in more new viewers to ATWT than any other aspect of the show--you'd think they'd take advantage of that, not try to drive the viewers away with lack of airtime."
Please see my comments to Justin Andrews. An addendum is the possibility that Luke fans -- or viewers that tune in just for Luke -- are considered transient viewers. If you look at the View numbers on my YouTube ATWT videos, you'd see a trend. Viewership increases 2-10x when something sexual happens: Noah touching Luke, Noah dropping his towel, the recent teaser showing their steamy fight, etc. This doesn't indicate to CBS that its Luke fans are loyal viewers. And that would make sense given that most of us are young working professionals with limited time for daytime TV. In fact, many AfterElton readers have derided the other storylines and outright said that they'd tune out once Luke is gone.
Given that reality, do you think CBS would care too much about their Luke fans? Indeed, several Luke fans at the CBS ATWT forum have mockingly retitled ATWT "The Will and Gwen Show" because that's why their most loyal viewers tune in.
What if Jake Weary stayed?
"The role *had* to be recast. Jake Weary was much too young to play the 'Luke comes out' storyline and they needed an older actor. He was about 13 - 15 years old"
The story goes that Jake Weary's mom pulled him off the show for reasons that are still debated. What if Weary hadn't left? Would the producers then have fired him for the sake of the gay storyline? Or would they have changed the storyline and omitted the romance, etc?
I do agree that an older Luke adds credibility. Younger gays are more often subjected to, "You're just confused" and "It's just a phase." Hansis' age and talents give Luke's homosexuality a resoluteness that Weary couldn't.